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Amazon, blogging, facebook, Guerilla Marketing, html, John Locke, Make A Killing On Kindle, Mark Coker, Michael Alvear, Review, selling ebooks, SEO, twitter
With hindsight, it seems to me that there is no one sure way to success with selling ebooks online. What worked for one author a few years ago probably wont work now due to the changeability of Amazon’s algorithms.
My advise is simply: Keep publishing books. Make them good.
I’m working on that advice myself.
However, if you still think this book is worth a read, here are my thoughts back in 2012;
Make A Killing On Kindle (Without Blogging, Facebook Or Twitter). The Guerilla Marketer’s Guide To Selling Ebooks On Amazon by Michael Alvear. I downloaded this book after reading a mention in the Writing Magazine.
Michael Alvear seems to have no delusions about ebook success and writes in a straight forward, no-nonsense manor which is straight to the point and engaging. It is easy to read, understandable and insightful. There are plenty of useful tips looking from a different perspective I have not yet come across as an independent author.
Alvear begins the book claiming that ‘Blogging, Facebook & Twitter are a complete waste of time,’ describing social media as a ‘time-sucking, no-value vortex that cannot sell books.’ I raised my eyebrows in surprise but by the end of the chapter my head was nodding.
Make A Killing On Kindle is a course on steps to enhance sales. Alvear offers good, useable advice on how to create compelling book titles, blurbs and covers. He describes how, it is believed, Amazon’s algorithms work and how to use them to your advantage, how to get to the top of Amazon’s search Engines, picking categories and how to springboard off your competitors.
I wasn’t aware that Amazon used HTML and I never gave a second thought to SEO (search engine optimization) but Alvear offers a crash course in how to use both of these to your advantage. He covers pricing strategies, front and back matter, getting reviews, sales rankings and how to utilize the author page on Amazon.
I found these tips genuinely useful as I’ve never come across them reading other books by John Locke and Mark Coker. It opened my eyes to how Amazon works, how readers engage with Amazon and your book and how to make the best use of both. Make A Killing On Kindle is worth several reads as the wealth of information is worth sinking in and applying as best you can to make the most of Amazon, your book and its readers.
Pros;
- Very useful and applicable information on Amazon and reaching readers
- No-nonsense, straight to the point writing style
Cons;
- It costs £3.19 but I did feel every penny was worth it!
- I would certainly recommend it over John Locke’s book.
Make A Killing On Kindle by Michael Alvear Amazon UK
Make A Killing On Kindle by Michael Alvear Amazon US
Have you read Make A Killing On Kindle? What did you think and have you applied the techniques described? I’d love to know!
I would agree that this book has some useful hints and tips although I think his dismissal of social media was more hype than anything.
What has intrigued me most about your post is that one of your cons was the price.
I certainly thought the same for a moment but then reflected that it was a smaller price than I’d ever pay in a bookshop. Our reactions suggests that ebooks may have caused a downward spiral in customers’ pricing decisions. Or maybe traditonal books were getting too expensive. I wonder if your rabbit might agree with this last point.
Nevertheless, I’m not going to follow the John Locke’s pile ’em high method for all of my books apart from the brief reduction in price for ‘Artful’ which will end tomorrow.
I think we are now used to buying cheap books whether its on Amazon, our local supermarket or a charity shop. I don’t think I’d pay full price for a new book now, I’d rather wait until I can buy it cheaper. It’s not often I buy books from an actual book shop.
I think my con of the price was more comparative to John Locke’s book which was somewhere under £2. Even so, for me a huge influence on whether or not I buy ebooks is the price. It makes me mad when I see ebooks priced equally, or more expensive than the hard copy.
I agree with you on Locke’s method. Also I’ve come to recently disregard most of his teachings since it’s been revealed that he bought his own reviews.
Thanks for your comments!
Even though I have a Kindle, I still buy certain books from Waterstone’s. Mainly books for my daughter. The only time I buy reduced price paperbacks is for presents for the numerous (far too many!) parties that Eleanor gets invited to. I couldn’t afford to pay full price in that case!
If I’m going to buy a paperback, I’ll go to Waterstones and pay full whack for it (unless it’s only available online). I guess I want brick and mortar bookstores to survive!
I’ve read part of this book. I need to pick it up again and have another look and implement some of the stuff. Do you think that any of the things he recommends have actually had an impact on Earth Angel’s sales?
Yeah I don’t know about social media being a “waste,” I would strongly disagree, but in terms of sales, other things most certainly help. I’ll need to read this because I do want to understand Amazon a lot better, considering right now I know next to nothing about it. I think reading a range of books with different perspectives will make you quite a well-rounded book marketer. Thanks for the rec and review, Ruth, I’ll definitely check this one out!
In response to Clare, I tried my best to apply SEO and HTML techniques to EA on Amazon but it hasn’t helped at all. I think the main problem is that people aren’t discovering that it exists.
Margaret, I agree with you that social media is not a waste, it certainly has been useful for me. and you’re welcome 🙂
I don’t know yet. I have recently self published two novels. I’m with a reputable company that gave me a 90 day marketing and continuous follow up every day of thirty day segments. I will also use SEO info and will consider Alvear’s work. I have studied Hocking but nowhere do we know HOW she got noticed. My plan includes blogging with signatures everywhere, review requests and the usual social media and we will just have to see. I’ll know in a year.
Best of luck and thanks for commenting 🙂